Power Rangers: Off the Grid
by World64
Summary: Kaffacus is an immortal being who, long ago, created the Morphing Grid, which would in turn create Power Rangers to combat the evil in the world. But when an unknown villain goes back in time to keep the Grid from being finished to erase the Power Rangers from history, it's up to a team of rangers with experience in time travel to go back and help Kaffacus in the past save the day!
1. Chapter 1: A Summoning of Heroes

Power Rangers: Off the Grid

Chapter 1: A Summoning of Heroes

Code Red. Code Red. My name is Kaffacus, and I have URGENT information to report. I am an immortal wizard currently working on a new project called the Morphing Grid, which will, for centuries to come, allow worthy entities across the universe to become colorful heroes known as Power Rangers. And now, all that is in danger. I am under attack. Repeat, I am under attack. Help immediately. Repeat, help imme-

"And that's where the transmission cuts off," said the spiky-haired man to his companion, in the former's mobile command center.

"But, it doesn't make any sense," replied Kaffacus. The man was, in fact, Tommy Oliver, perhaps the greatest Power Ranger history had ever recorded, and now, here he stood with the man who invented Power Rangers. He'd called Kaffacus to meet with him because of the very bizarre nature of this ancient transmission. "Tommy, I was never attacked while building the Morphing Grid, and I certainly didn't send out any distress calls to the future." Suddenly, the room started shaking.

"Earthquake?" asked Tommy.

"No..." Kaffacus rushed to the door of the mobile command center (a glorified tractor trailer with numerous computers in the trailer) to have a look outside. The whole area was shaking.

"Kaffacus?" asked Tommy, "what is it?" Then Kaffacus closed his eyes and used his powers to see the whole world at once. Every inch of it was shaking.

"Tommy," said Kaffacus, opening his eyes, "I believe I know why that transmission exists."

"And it's not an earthquake?"

"Far worse, child. I fear that someone has travelled back in time to destroy the Morphing Grid before I finished building it." Then it dawned on Tommy as well.

"And whoever it was... succeeded."

"Precisely, Tommy. This is no earthquake, but a time ripple. If we don't do something, all of causality shall change! Everything today will revert to what it would've been if I'd never created the Morphing Grid..."

"So many alien conquers, unchallenged, undefeated..."

"We must send reinforcements back in time at once, to help past me fight whoever's caused this."

"But, Kaffacus, how are we supposed to send someone back?" Kaffacus smiled.

"One idea springs to mind."

Meanwhile, in Silver Hills, retired rangers Wes Collins and Eric Meyers had been watching TV when the shaking began.

"DAMNIT!" they both yelled when the TV turned itself off.

"Son of a bitch," said Eric, "'quake must've knocked out the satellite. Alright, let's get under some tables..." As the shaking continued, the two raced for the nearest table to hide under, as they'd been taught to do in the event of an earthquake. Over the noise of the quake, Wes thought he could hear something else.

"Yo, Eric," he said, "I think my morpher's ringing..."

"What?"

"I think someone's calling me..." Eric was shocked. The two hadn't been called in this manner in many years.

"Well," he said, "what the hell are you waiting for, Wes? Answer it!" Wes nodded and answered the morpher.

"Hello?" he said.

"What's up, Wes?" said the voice on the other end. Wes lip-synched to Eric, "holy shit! it's TOMMY!" Eric gasped as the conversation continued.

"Tommy! Great to hear from you! Crazy quake we're having, huh?"

"It's not a quake, Wes," said Tommy. Wes was puzzled. "It's a time ripple. Someone's went back in time to stop the wizard Kaffacus from building the Morphing Grid to erase all Power Rangers from history! We need to send a team back there pronto to help Kaffacus in the past fight them off!"

"We're on it!" With that, Wes hung up. "Eric," he said, "the past is under attack. The Silver Guardians are needed once again!" Eric nodded.

"TIME FOR, TIME FORCE!"

Suddenly, two beams of red light burst into Tommy's trailer. When they fully materialized, they were Wes and Eric, the Red Time Force Ranger and the Quantum Ranger.

"Welcome, Rangers," said Kaffacus.

"Kaffacus." The new arrivals bowed out of respect for the man who created the Morphing Grid.

"At ease," he said, "we hardly have time to pay homage to one another, although your gesture is appreciated." The Rangers nodded and got back up.

"Say, who's the chick?" asked Wes, referring to a girl dressed primarily in black and yellow, sitting in the trailer. She got up.

"My name's Kira, Kira Ford," she said, "Yellow Dino Thunder Ranger". She shook hands with Wes.

"Kira," explained Tommy, "is a former student of mine. We just picked her up from Reefside."

"So, that makes 3 so far," said Eric, "2 to go now, right?"

"You're a Ranger, too?" asked Kira.

"Eric Meyers, Quantum Ranger." He shook hands with Kira as well.

"Kira," said Tommy, "Wes Collins and Eric Meyers are the red rangers from the Time Force team, together known as the Silver Guardians."

"Nice to meet you," she said.

"And yes, Eric, that makes 2 to go."

"So, Dr. O," said Kira, "where to next?"

"To a hidden Ninja Academy in the mountains." And so the truck drove on, the time ripple growing ever stronger.

Meanwhile in the mountains, Sensei Cam Watanabe was trying his best to follow in the footsteps of his late father, Kanoi, training the next generation of ninja protectors in the courtyard when the shaking began.

"Sensei Cam, what's happening?" asked one of his students.

"I don't know, Senpai Erikku!" replied Cam, "Find cover! Everyone!" Everyone rushed for tables, low roofs, any place they could shield and stabilize themselves.

"It's getting louder, Sensei!" yelled another student. But, as the sound he referred to drew nearer, Cam realized something.

"That's not part of it!" he realized, "it's a truck!" A gargantuan tractor trailer drove right into the courtyard, which would've injured several of his students were they not specifically avoiding being out in the open so as to avoid the brunt of the quake. Suddenly, the back of the trailer busted open and out came 4 people, 2 of which he recognized.

"Kira? Dr. Oliver?" he asked.

"That's us!" they said. He ran forward and hugged them.

"Thank god you two are alright! How are they other Dino Rangers?"

"They're fine, Cam," said Tommy, "but the whole universe will be in danger if you don't help us. Do you still have your morpher?" Cam drew the green ball from his belt, complete with the emblem of the Wind Academy.

"Never leave home without it," he proudly declared.

"Then let's go get to work." Cam nodded and followed Tommy into the trailer. Before closing it behind him, however, he realized he was abandoning the Academy. He turned around to his students and exclaimed,

"Assistant Senseis Shane, Tori, and Dustin are in charge until I return! Listen to them!"

"Yes, Sensei!" his students replied. Satisfied, he closed the door and the truck sped off.

"So, Dr. Oliver," asked Cam in the trailer, "where to next?" Tommy smiled.

"Now, Rangers," he said, "we're off to go see a VERY old friend."

"Where?" asked Wes.

"Angel Grove." Everyone gasped.

"Tommy," said Kaffacus, incredulously, "could you mean...?"

"Yes, Kaffacus, that's exactly who I mean." Kira and Cam seemed puzzled, unfamiliar with who they were talking about. Wes and Eric, on the other hand, were perhaps even more incredulous then Kaffacus. "The first Ranger to ever engage in time travel. Member of one of the first teams of Earth rangers ever." The truck sped past a sign that read _Welcome to Angel Grove_. "She'll be at the next bus stop, assuming she got my beep." While Cam and Kira remained hopelessly confused, Wes and Eric began to grin at what they both knew was coming thanks to their travels in the time-space continuum and their resulting vast knowledge of Power Ranger History.

"Wait a minute..." said Kira, beginning to understand. "Dr. O, when you were captured by Mesogog, Hayley showed us a video detailing the complete history of the Power Rangers." Tommy looked pleasantly surprised; Hayley had never told him this. "Is this ranger, per chance, that girl? Like, _the _girl?" Tommy smiled.

"Yes, Kira," he said, "it's her." With that, the truck arrived at a bus stop and Tommy walked over to open the door. A girl clad in a pink shirt and white overalls stepped in.

"Tommy?" she said, unable to believe she was seeing him again, "Is that really you?" Tommy laughed with joy, on the verge of blissful tears.

"In the flesh, Kim." The two embraced each other and Tommy kissed her on the cheek. "It's good to see you again," he said. Then he closed the door behind her and introduced her to the other rangers.

"Rangers," he said, "this woman here was the first Power Ranger to ever travel through time. She is a close, personal friend of mine from way back. Rangers, I give you the leader of your mission to the past to save the Morphing Grid: Kimberly Hart. Pink ranger."


	2. Chapter 2: Ranger Power

Power Rangers: Off the Grid

Chapter 2: Ranger Power

"As Wes and Eric know," said Tommy, "Kimberly here is the first ranger to ever go back in time, and it was for similar reasons to this mission."

"Yeah," replied Wes, "as I remember it, your team's ancestors were under attack in the Old West. You saved Earth's first group of power rangers." Wes ran to shake her hand. Then Kira approached the veteran ranger.

"Ms. Hart," she said, "I just want to say that I saw you in the video archives that Dr. O made for us, and..." She paused, struggling for the right words. "Ms. Hart, you are a true inspiration to me." Kimberly smiled, charmed by Kira's almost excessive respect for her. "Pterodactyl power, right?"

"Pterodactyl power." They bumped fists.

"Alright, now that your entire team is together, Tommy, can we send them back to save the Grid?" asked Kaffacus.

"Yes, I'll get right on i-"

"Wait," interrupted Cam, "what do you mean 'they'?" The smiles on the other rangers' faces faded.

"Are you not coming with us?" asked Eric. Tommy sighed and looked terribly grim, as if he was about to tell his children there was no Santa Claus.

"Rangers, I would love to go back in time with you, but I'm needed here. As the time ripples grow strong, old, defeated monsters are beginning to return."

"Because, now that someone's destroyed the Morphing Grid in the past, those villains were never defeated by teams of Rangers?" asked Kira.

"Exactly. Someone has to stay behind to fight them off."

"Hang on, wait a minute," said Wes, "when we save the Morphing Grid in the past, won't you know as soon as you send us back from the absence of time ripples?"

"Not 'when', Wes. If. And, if this unknown threat proves to be too much to you and all 6 of our best rangers are stuck in the past, the Earth will be doomed. One of us needs to stay behind."

"And if any one ranger can fight off that many monsters solo..." said Cam,

"...it must be Doctor O." said Kira.

"Let's hope it doesn't come to that," said Tommy. "I may be staying behind in the event that the mission fails, but I have faith in you. I believe that you will win. I believe that you will save the universe.

"Alright, then what are we waiting for?" asked Kimberly, standing up. Then Eric stood up.

"Nothing," he said. Then Cam stood up.

"World needs saving..." Then Wes stood up.

"...and it's up to us to save it." Then Kira stood up.

"Let's get to work."

"Alright then," said Tommy, "I need everybody to step onto that platform of Kaffacus's time machine." He waited for everyone to find a vacant pad, then asked "Ready?"

"Ready!" they all replied together.

"May the power protect you all." With that, Tommy pulled the switch.

Meanwhile, in the past, Kaffacus was hiding under a table with an ancient radio transmitter.

"Code Red! Code Red!" he was yelling into it, at the top of his lungs, "My name is Kaffacus, and I have URGENT information to report!" His lab and his work were crashing down all around him as it was bombarded by fists, laser blasts, and slashes. Fires were starting to sprout up at him everywhere. "I am an immortal wizard," he continued nonetheless, "currently working on a new project called the Morphing Grid, which will, for centuries to come, allow worthy entities across the universe to become colorful heroes known as Power Rangers!" The fires had evolved into explosions. Amidst the noise, the great wizard hardly noticed the five flashes of light in the air as five new players arrived in the playing field out of the blue. "And now," he said, "all that is danger! I AM UNDER ATTACK! REPEAT, I AM UNDER ATTACK! HELP IMMEDIATELY!" There was a laser headed right for him. "REPEAT, HELP IMME-" But his transmission was stopped dead something tackled him to the ground, destroying his radio transmitter in the process. "GET OFF ME, SCUM!" he screamed, throwing his assailant against the wall.

"KAFFACUS!" said a voice. The newcomer's voice stopped the wizard done. He turned to the one who had spoken. He was youthful looking and wore a red beret.

"Stranger," he said, "how could you possibly know my name?"

"Well, you're immortal, right?" asked another voice. Once again Kaffacus turned to the source of the voice. This one was taller but bespectacled.

"Yes..." he responded cautiously, still not quite trusting these strangers.

"Well," chimed in a third voice, this one female, "we're friends of yours in the future." Kaffacus began to calm down.

"Friends?" he asked. Then he noticed something these 5 newcomers all had in common; they were all wearing strange yet oddly familiar devices on their wrists. He couldn't put his finger on it for a while, but then it donned on him. "Those devices, on your wrists," he said, "they're morphers, aren't they?" The newcomers nodded. Kaffacus was stunned. "You're Power Rangers, aren't you?" They nodded again. Suddenly, Kaffacus was beaming. The rangers proceeded to introduce themselves.

"Kira," said the yellow-clad female.

"Eric," said the red-clad male.

"Wes," said the shorter red-clad male sporting the beret.

"Cam, said the bespectacled male.

"Kimberly," said the pink-clad female. Seemingly out of nowhere, he actually hugged Cam.

"Oh, joyous day!" he cried, giddy as a schoolgirl. "Do you know what this means?" he asked. Without waiting for an answer, he proceeded to say, "it means my Morphing Grid works!"

"Technically, yes," said Cam, "but we kinda have to save it first."

"Ah yes, the attack... Is that why you've come here from the future? You're gonna help me fight off these things?"

"It would be our honor, Ka-" but Wes was promptly interrupted by Kimberly.

"Wait, 'things'?" she asked, "plural?"

"Yes," said Kaffacus, "these little robot men have been relentlessly assaulting the Grid for hours now!" Kimberly grimaced.

"Cogs," she said. As if awaiting their cue, the rangers were suddenly surrounded on all sides by cogs. They immediately grouped up into a circle, arms at the ready for a fight.

"Cogs?" asked Kira.

"Minions of the Machine Empire," explained Kimberly.

"But this doesn't make any sense," said Eric.

"Yeah," agreed Wes, "we already defeated the Machine Empire on the moon years ago. Eric, me, and like 7 other red rangers were all there and this one guy, Cole, he blew up Serpenterra with the last general still inside! No damn way he survived that!"

"Well, clearly, they're here," said Kimberly, "and it doesn't matter how, or whether it's 'possible'. If they're here, no matter what the reason, our job is to fight them off. Who's with me?"

"YEAH!" they all replied in unison.

"IT'S MORPHIN' TIME!" she cried at the top of her lungs, removing her morpher from her wrist and opening it.

"PTERODACTYL!" With that, her body and even her clothes began to mutate, becoming those of the original Pink Power Ranger. "MIGHTY MORPHIN' POWER RANGER!"

"TIME FOR, TIME FORCE!" yelled Wes and Eric, opening their morphers, causing their bodies to mutate into those of the Red Time Force Ranger and the Quantum Ranger. "TIME FORCE, HYAH!"

"SAMURAI STORM, RANGER FORM!" yelled Cam, opening his unusually ball-shaped morpher. "GREEN SAMURAI RANGER, YA!"

"DINO THUNDER POWER, POWER UP! HAH!" yelled Kira, opening her morpher and pressing a button on it. "DINO THUNDER! HI-YAH!" And then the dream team of five time-travelling power rangers took a pose, and multi-colored explosions came into being at the center of their circle as they cried, in unison,

"RANGER POWER!"


	3. Chapter 3: Seeing Red

Power Rangers: Off the Grid

Chapter 3: Seeing Red

The rangers were fighting back hordes and hordes of cogs and it was getting quite overwhelming. The rangers hadn't lost any of their incredible fighting skills, but there was just so many of them. No matter how many they stabbed, decapitated, shot, or even just beaten to death, there were always more.

"I wish we had our Zords right about now!" said Eric, "My Q-Rex would eat these metal freaks for lunch!" He proceeded to punch one through the head and kick another into the blade of Cam's sword, who used the makeshift blade extension to knock down more of them.

"We may not have the Zords," said Kira, "but I've still got SUPER DINO MODE!" Her body mutated again, this time turning the decorative white diamonds on her costume into actual, sharp spikes, and glider wings appeared under her arms.

"No way, you can fly?" remarked Wes, astounded.

"Way!" With that, Kira proceeded to put her flight ability to good use by flying over the hordes and using her twin daggers to decapitate as many as she possibly could as she flew.

"Say," said Cam, "that's not a bad idea! Eric, you thinking what I'm thinking?" Eric glanced at him, then smiled. Oh, yes. He knew what Cam was thinking. Cam threw his vest on the ground and the two prepared to summon some reinforcements.

"SUPER SAMURAI MODE!" yelled Cam, flipping his helmet around. His sword sized up a peg.

"MEGA BATTLE, ACTIVATE!" yelled Eric. Golden armor descended from the heavens and landed on Eric's chest, armed with wings on its back and missile launchers on its shoulders. "BATTLE READY!" Eric proceeded to join Kira in the skies while shooting down scores of the enemy. "You're not the only one who can fly, kid!" he said.

"Sixth rangers ROCK!" Cam's increased power allowed for him to cut down the enemy at near breakneck speeds.

"Don't forget red rangers!" added Wes, pressing a button on his morpher. Suddenly, he became engulfed in a ball of flame that ignited the cogs around him, as he became heavily armored almost beyond recognition as the Red Time Force Ranger. "RED BATTLE WARRIOR! Yeah!" he cried, proceeding to slice and burn the enemy. Kimberly used her bow to snipe a few more cogs before realizing what was happening, at which she point she temporarily dropped anything to voice her disapproval.

"Hey," she complained, "how come I don't get some kind of super-mode?"

"Hey, well, you're Team Leader, right?" asked Wes, somewhat insincerely, "What do _you _need a super-mode for?"

"Shut up, Wes." Kimberly fired an arrow that appeared to be headed right for Wes, but actually hit a cog right behind him. She laughed a little, he rolled his eyes then went back to fighting. Suddenly, the beeper on Kimberly's morpher sounded its familiar tone. "Guys!" exclaimed Kimberly, "someone's calling me somehow!"

"But that doesn't make any sense!" remarked Cam, "the Morphing Grid isn't even finished yet; we're the only rangers in this time period and only rangers can talk on that frequency!" Kimberly took a good look around at their situation. She and her comrades were fighting valiantly, but they were also outnumbered and outgunned. The cogs just kept coming and coming. If, somehow, against every law of physics in the universe, there _were_ rangers here, they needed all the help they could get.

"I'm gonna answer!" said Kimberly. With that, she pressed the button on the morpher to answer the call.

"Kim!" said the all-too-familiar voice on the other line.

"Tommy!" she replied, filled with relief and joy, "is that you?"

"Yes, Kim. Listen, there are still time ripples emanating from the date we sent you guys to. Are you having _any _problems defending the Grid? Do you require _any_ reinforcements?"

"Yes, Tommy! Yes! We're getting killed out here!" Tommy was alarmed.

"Well, what do you need?" There was a distinct sense of panicked urgency to his voice.

"A zord, Tommy! Send us a zord, pronto!"

"You got it!" Tommy proceeded to make another call.

Meanwhile, in the Shiba House, the phone started ringing. The only one at home was Jayden Shiba, who answered it.

"Hello?" he said.

"Jayden," said the voice on the other end, "Hi, it's Tommy Oliver. Listen, I need to borrow one of your Zords. It's urgent."

"Understood, Dr. O," he said, "I'm sending you the ClawZord, on the double! Sure Antonio won't mind!"

"Appreciated, Jayden." With that, Tommy hung up. Not 15 seconds later, the folded ClawZord materialized on his desk. Tommy proceeded to continue his call with Kimberly.

"Alright!" he said, "I'm sending you the ClawZord from the Samurai team!" He proceeded to toss the folded zord into the time machine and throw the switch.

Meanwhile, on the battlefield misplaced in time, a tiny object materialized in the air directly above the Pink Ranger. She performed a Golden Medal-worthy jump in order to catch it before it could be lost in the chaos.

"Alright, Tommy," said Kimberly, "how do I activate this thing?"

"You're gonna need some kind of sword," he said.

"Kira!" exclaimed Kimberly, "I'm gonna need to borrow one of your daggers!"

"Sure thing, Kim!" Kira altered her course and whizzed past Kimberly, handing off one of her daggers as she passed.

"Alright, I've got a dagger, Tommy. Now what?"

"Great! Now, Kim I want you to hold the zord in front of view and use the dagger to carve in midair the symbol inscribed on it! This will cause it to unfold and reach its true power!"

"Alright, Tommy," she nervously said, preparing to try this seemingly foolhardy method. "Here goes nothing..." But it worked. The block began to unfold and shift size, becoming a mighty Zord. All eyes turned to the new arrival.

"Aw, yeah!" said Eric, "it ain't no Q-Rex, but we got a Zord! YEAH!"

"Everyone in, quick!" exclaimed Kim, teleporting into the Zord. The other rangers nodded and followed suit.

"They're just like hordes of insects from up here!" remarked Eric.

"Yeah," said Cam, "let's squash 'em!" And it did. The ClawZord made very easy work of the cogs, trampling all unfortunate enough to end up under its feat and easily deflecting any attacks from them.

"Looks like the Morphing Grid is safe, guys!" observed Cam, cautiously.

"We did it!" agreed Kira, beaming.

"I wouldn't be too sure of that." The voice was not one of theirs. They all slowly turned around to see the 6th person in the Zord, on the mission of only 5 rangers.

"No..." said Kira, "that's not possible... it can't be..."

"Oh, but it is!" said the intruder, who drew his sword and easily kicked all 5 rangers out of the ClawZord. He then teleported outside as well. Tommy herd Kimberly's screams on the comm.

"Kim? KIM?!" he yelled into it, "are you alright?!" Kimberly had to wait a while to catch her breath before responding.

"Yeah, Tommy," she said, "we're fine, but..."

"But what, Kim?!"

"But, Tommy, I don't know how the heck this is happening, but we're being attacked by the Red Ranger." Tommy paused for a moment. He couldn't believe it, but Kira was looking right at it. From the familiar white diamonds to the T-rex inspired helmet to the sword, this was unmistakably the Red Mighty Morphin' Power Ranger.

"But that's not possible," said Tommy, "Jason's on TV right now, he's a fireman now. He's helping out victims of the quake!"

"He wasn't the only Mighty Morphin' Red Ranger," remarked Kira, who remembered this information from Tommy's video archive. "Oh... my god..." said Kimberly. She stared at the Red Ranger, cackling his evil cackle at them rather than standing by their side as she'd been accustomed to for all those years. Then, as the shocking but inevitable conclusion hit them both, Kimberly and Tommy said, in unison, "It's Rocky."


	4. Chapter 4: Distractions

Power Rangers: Off the Grid

Chapter 4: Distractions

"But that doesn't make any sense," said Wes, "if he erases the Morphing Grid from history, won't his powers be gone, too?" It was a fair question.

"Rocky!" yelled Kimberly, "Why are you doing this?" The ranger didn't answer. He simply stood there, cackling like a hyena and waving his sword around. "Rocky... we don't want to fight you... we don't want to _hurt_ you, Rocky!"

"HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! Don't worry, you won't!" He raised his sword in the air. "COGS," he cried, "DESTROY THEM!" Suddenly, a whole new onslaught of cogs arrived, this time armed to the cold, metal teeth.

"Aw, you gotta be KIDDING me!" exclaimed Eric.

"I thought we already finished these losers!" added Cam.

"Apparently not!" The rangers groaned and charged into battle again. The ranger had climbed atop a rock and continued his vicious cackling until he noticed just how quickly the cogs were going down. Kira's and Eric's bombing runs combined with Cam's Super Samurai massacre and Wes's Battlizer rampage made easy work of them.

"You IDIOTS! King Mondo programmed you MUCH better than that!" His words fell upon deaf ears as the cogs continued to be hilariously slaughtered. "FIGHT, you fools!" he yelled, "FI- AGH!" He'd been hit by a pink energy beam and fell off his rock.

"Shut up, Rocky," said Kimberly. She shot a few more down, but the load of the battle hardly fell on her. Cam sliced and diced the pathetic drones to pieces as Wes tore through them like paper, and Kira and Eric wreaked death from above. By the time the red ranger regained consciousness, the battlefield had once again been cleared of cogs, instead littered with their functionless corpses. "Really, Rocky? That was the best you had?" Wes decided to join the fun.

"Tsk tsk tsk," he said, shaking his head in sarcastic pity, "is this what the great Machine Empire has been reduced to?"

"Y'know," chimed in Cam, "I'll bet he keeps sending in more cogs because he's afraid to face us head-on!"

"GRRRR!" growled the ranger, "FINE! If you _insist_, I'll destroy you myself." With that, he reached into his scabbard and produced another weapon. Kimberly was stunned at the sight of it.

"No, it can't be... how did?" Touching this new, shorter blade to his own shoulder, the ranger managed to conjure up a familiar golden armor piece once worn by the original Green Ranger.

"It is..." said Kira, who had seen it in Tommy's archives.

"The dragon dagger." The ranger laughed harder than ever.

"GOTTA ADMIT," he said, "STEALING THIS FROM RITA WASN'T EASY. BUT I DID IT. AND IT WAS WORTH IT, FOR THE GLORY OF KING MONDO AND THE MACHINE EMPIRE!" The ranger held the dagger to his lips, and played it like a flute. Suddenly, the weapon fired a bolt of green lightning at the rangers, resulting an enormous explosion.

"AAAAAAAAHHHH!" they all screamed as the ground beneath them exploded, thrusting them into the air until they landed painfully on the ground. Eric was the first to recover.

"Why, you!" he exclaimed. But then, as he was about to use his battlizer to shoot at the red ranger, he realized something rather unfortunate: either the force of the explosion or the impact of the landing had destroyed it. "Uh-oh..." The ranger gave a little amused "heh" before firing more lightning directly at Eric, knocking him out.

"ERIC!" yelled Wes. He discarded his battlizer, also destroyed, and turned his attention to the ranger. "You're gonna pay for that, poser," he said. He drew his sword and charged at the ranger, who was ready with a parry. Their swords clashed again and again as Wes lashed out with rage.

"Your anger betrays you, child," he said, tauntingly. Suddenly, he swung the Dragon Dagger to the side of him, deflecting one of Kimberly's arrows. Kira ran in to help Wes and Kimberly was about to do the same when Tommy called her again.

"Tommy," she said, "he has the Dragon Dagger, and the Dragon Shield."

"DAMN!" exclaimed Tommy on the other end, slamming his fists on his desk.

"Tommy?" asked Kaffacus, "what's gone wrong?"

"That son of a bitch has the Dragon Dagger!" Kaffacus looked solemn. It seemed like this was it.

"Tommy?" Kimberly asked, still firing arrows at the red ranger, each of which was deflected easily, "TOMMY?"

"Listen, Kim," said Tommy, "I know it's tough, but you NEED to keep him from getting to the Morphing Grid. Then something dawned on Kimberly.

"That's _it!_" she said.

"What?"

"That's it, Tommy! We don't need to beat him, we just need to keep him from it, say, long enough for the Kaffacus from this time to finish it!"

"Kimberly, that could take a long time..."

"Even if there were _two_ Kaffacuses here?" Then it dawned on Tommy, too.

"Well," he said, "that would certainly speed things up, wouldn't it? He's on his way." With that, Tommy hung up and turned to Kaffacus while Kimberly ran to her version of Kaffacus.

"Kaff," said Tommy, "we have a plan."

"Kaff," said Kimberly, "we have a plan."

"We're gonna send you to the past to help your past self finish the Morphing Grid a little early, while the Rangers distract Rocky."

"We're gonna bring your future self here to help you finish the Morphing Grid a little early, while we distract Rocky."

"Once the Grid is finished," they both said, "it'll be indestructible as it is now. He'll have lost." Both Kaffacuses mulled it over for a minute, then finally said,

"Sounds like a plan." Suddenly, a light appeared in the sky in the past as Kaffacus fell from the heavens and gracefully landed next to his past self. "Kaffacus," he said in greeting. "Kaffacus," replied his counterpart. "Right then, let's get started." Satisfied, Kimberly ran back to the site of the battle and tended to Eric, who was beginning to regain consciousness. Cam, who had been tending him until then, proceeded to charge into battle.

"You alright, Quantum Ranger?" asked Kimberly.

"Yeah, Kim, thanks," he said, slowly standing himself up. The two watched for a moment as the red ranger made utter fools of their comrades. Kira's costume was torn in several places, including her wings, rendering them useless, Wes had been disarmed and was now desperately attempting to fight an swordsman barehanded, and Cam was immediately hit by the green lightning. "We have to help them," said Eric.

"Agreed."

"HYAAAAAAH!" they cried in unison as they charged in to help their comrades. The red ranger sighed.

"Y'know," he said, "you rangers have always been a real pain in the neck for the Machine Empire. We could've conquered the Earth within a day of our arrival were it not for you."

"We?" asked Kimberly, "Rocky, you're not one of them! You're one of us! You _fought _them!"

"The point is," continued the ranger, ignoring Kimberly's interjection, "I've got all day to blow up the Morphing Grid. First, I think I'll have some fun with you." He brought the Dragon Dagger up to his lips again, prompting the rangers to use their remaining to weapons to form a rudimentary shield. They barely had time to assemble it before the lightning onslaught began.

"STAND YOUR GROUND!" yelled Kimberly.

"WE GOT THIS!" agreed Wes.

"RANGER POWER!" added Kira. The lightning became stronger and stronger but they stood fast. Finally, after what seemed like forever, the barrage ceased. They all nearly fell over forward at the sudden absence of a force to push against. But then they looked up.

"Holy moly..." remarked Cam, as they looked up and saw a humanoid Zord, shaped like King Mondo.

"While I distracted you with lightning, Rangers, one of my Cogs summoned THIS!" said the red ranger's artificially magnified voice, from atop the behemoth's shoulder, "In honor of our fallen leader, the glorious King Mondo, I crush you this day with the MondoZord!" With that, he proceeded to jump inside the monstrous Zord, which proceeded to strike a pose, preparing to fight.

"Let's get back to the ClawZord!" suggested Eric, a suggestion the rangers gladly took.

"Alright," said Kimberly, "preeetty sure this thing has a humanoid mode..."

"Perhaps this has something to do with it?" Cam had spotted some sort of knob on the dashboard, which he proceeded to arbitrarily turn. After a little rumbling, it sure enough converted the golden Zord into a humanoid form.

"Finally!" said Eric, "a Zord fight! Been waiting for one of these this whole time!" And so, the two Zords marched on each other. "Let's take this poser DOWN!" The ClawZord delivered the first punch, but it barely effected the mighty MondoZord, which proceeded to draw a sword. The MondoZord very quickly forced the ClawZord into the defensive, desperately blocking every blow until it suddenly became cornered against a stone wall.

"What the hell?" asked one of the rangers, startled. The brief moment of startled paralyzation was all the MondoZord needed to run a sword through the ClawZord's eye. "Don't panic," yelled Cam over the frightened yelps of the other rangers, "we've still got two more modes and two more heads to go..." He turned the coin again turning the ClawZord from ClawZord South to ClawZord West. The ClawZord then proceeded to aim a karate chop at the MondoZord's wrist, causing it to drop the sword.

"Ah, you prefer hand-to-hand?" asked the red ranger, mockingly. "Very well, then..." The MondoZord lunged at the ClawZord, which managed to get ahold of the MondoZord and hurl it into the rock face. The rangers had a good laugh at that one.

"What's the matter, ROCKy?" asked Wes, "caught between a ROCK and a hard place?" The red ranger roared with rage as the MondoZord lunged at the ClawZord again. They traded punch after punch after punch before the MondoZord gained the upper hand; the ClawZord aimed a punch at its head, but it used the opportunity to grab hold of the ClawZord's shoulder and flip it over, pinning it on the ground. The MondoZord then crushed the head into dust between its gargantuan hands.

"Alright, one form left..." But before the ClawZord could complete its transformation into ClawZord East, the MondoZord attacked with green lightning it apparently inherited from the Dragon Dagger.

"Evacuate, immediately!" yelled Cam, but it was too late. The Zord exploded, hurling the Rangers into the air. This time, though they remained fully conscious, they couldn't get up; they were defeated. The red ranger emerged from the MondoZord and once again stood atop its shoulder to gloat his victory.

"Such valiant fighting," he said, "but all for not." But then, suddenly, a ray of multicolor light burst into being. "Heh?" The ranger turned to the direction the light had come from. "NO!"

"Yes," said Kimberly, "while _we_ distracted _you_, Kaffacus completed the Morphing Grid! You can't destroy it now!"

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" Suddenly, they were all teleported back to the present, Zords and all, leaving only Past Kaffacus.

"Huh," he said. "What a strange day."

Meanwhile, the MondoZord, the red ranger, Present Kaffacus, and the team that had saved the Morphing Grid arrived back in the present, right next to Tommy's trailer. Tommy rushed outside and ran to Kimberly.

"KIM!" he yelled, running to her. When he arrived, he held her hand in his. "Are you okay?" he asked. Kimberly smiled.

"I am now."

"What happened to Rocky?" asked Kira, looking up at the Mondozord. The enraged red ranger's voice rang from atop the MondoZord, except now the voice was completely different, and the red ranger no longer stood there. Instead, there was some completely different humanoid entity. It resembled a Beetleborg. Tommy looked and saw a familiar but VERY unwelcome face.

"That's not Rocky," he said. Wes and Eric looked. They recognized him, too.

"Venjix."


	5. Chapter 5: Chasing the Dragon

Author's Note: Sorry for skipping a day, guys. The weekend, as always, ended too soon and I needed a night to catch my breath. Anyway, the story's going to be over pretty soon. This will be the last chapter. Again, sorry I missed a day, but I'm afraid I can't promise that it won't happen again. Sorry.

Power Rangers: Off the Grid

Chapter 5: Chasing the Dragon

"Who's 'Venjix?'" asked Kimberly of Tommy after he, Wes and Eric identified the beetleborg-esque stranger.

"He's the last of the Machine Empire's generals," explained Tommy, "about 8 years ago, myself, Wes, Eric, and 7 other red rangers went to the moon to stop him from stealing Serpenterra. He got it for a while, but Cole, the Red Wild Force Ranger, destroyed it." Then Wes yelled at General Venjix.

"HOW THE HECK DID YOU SURVIVE THE EXPLOSION?!" he yelled.

"Come on, Wes," he replied, tauntingly, "you're a Ranger,_ more or less_! Surely you know that all morphers grant teleportation powers!"

"HOW'D YOU GET THAT MORPHER, ANYWAY?!" added Kimberly. All eyes were on Venjix, whose face was immobile, yet one could almost see the despicable grin on his face.

"Ever wonder why your friend Rocky never showed up that day?!" Tommy froze in shock.

"No..." he said, realizing what Venjix was implying.

"YES! I _killed _him and took his morpher for myself!" Tommy's fists clenched. Suddenly, he reached into his pocket and drew out a morpher.

"YOU'RE GONNA PAY FOR KILLING ROCKY, VENJIX! IT'S MORPHIN' TIME!" Tommy's body, like the others earlier, began to mutate, a red suit materializing around him, topped off with a helmet whose visor was shaped like a star. "ZEO RANGER 5!" The other rangers cheered at Tommy's finally joining the fight. Venjix jumped off the MondoZord's shoulder and onto the ground to meet them. Tommy stepped forth but the other rangers remained where they were. They knew that this was Tommy's fight.

"We meet again, Zeo Ranger 5!" said General Venjix. Tommy did not respond, so he continued. "You and the other Zeo Rangers nearly destroyed the Machine Empire. No-one is more hated in our history than you, Tommy Oliver. And now, as my final act as General, I'm going to take you down." With that, Venjix drew his sword. Tommy drew his. And then, the two let loose with their battle cries and charged at each other. Kimberly jerked forward to help Tommy, but held herself back. Again and again their blades met, Tommy parrying this and returning that. There were no Zords, no cogs, no guns firing now. Just two mortal enemies fighting to the death. Venjix went in for an uppercut, but Tommy was too quick even for him. He managed to dodge and end up on Venjix's back, then he flipped Venjix over him, landing him flat on his head. But Venjix made a swift recovery and managed to trip Tommy in the process. Before Tommy could recover, he picked him up and threw him against the wall. Tommy charged at Venjix and stuck his sword between Venjix's waist and belt, tearing the belt clean off, but Venjix took advantage of the opportunity to kick the sword out of Tommy's hand, disarming him. "Hmph!" Venjix gloated, prematurely. He then raised his sword in the air and prepared to deliver the killing blow, but then it was Tommy's turn to take advantage of the opportunity. He used his legs to block Venjix's sword and kick it back into his face. "AGH! Now you're starting to _piss me off!_"

"Don't feel too good when someone does it to you, do it?" Tommy retorted, getting back up. Venjix screamed and charged once more at Tommy, who simply stepped out of the way and then floored Venjix with a kick from the back. Venjix had been severely weakened by his fight with the other rangers. Tommy found his sword on the ground and held it to Venjix's neck, pinning him down. "It's over, General," he said. "You failed to destroy the Morphing Grid, you failed to destroy me, you let the Machine Empire down in every way. This time, you're finished for good."

"Maybe the Empire is truly gone," conceded Venjix. But then, he drew a concealed gun and shot Tommy in the chest. Tommy screamed in immense pain, stumbling backwards and dropping his sword. "But _I_ still have the MondoZord, and I'm going to use it to _utterly destroy _every inch of your precious Earth that I can _possibly manage!_ Hahahahahah! Hahahahahaha! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH!" Venjix laughed his maniacal laugh as he teleported back into the MondoZord and proceeded to ravage the town. Kimberly ran to help Tommy, who was now writhing on the ground. The other rangers ran to his side as well.

"Is he going to be alright?" asked Kira.

"Yes," said Kim, "thank Zordon, Venjix just barely missed his heart."

"What are we gonna do now?" asked Cam, "we've GOT to stop that thing!"

"But we don't have any Zords!" added Wes.

"Yes, we do." Tommy had managed to speak.

"What do you mean, Doctor O?" asked Kira.

"During... the fight..." Tommy moaned and wheezed as he spoke. "Look... what I... got... from... Venjix's... belt..." Everyone gasped; Tommy had managed to retrieve the Dragon Dagger. "Need to... get to... Angel Grove... bay."

"Of course," said Eric, "the other Mighty Morphin' zords were all destroyed, but the DragonZord's just been sitting beneath Angel Grove bay all these years! Ripe for the taking!"

"Great plan, Doctor O!" added Kira.

"But it'll take a while," said Kimberly, "we need some way to distract that MondoZord until we can get Tommy to the bay."

"Perhaps I can help with that," interjected someone. All eyes turned. It was Kaffacus.

"You can take care of the MondoZord?" asked Cam.

"Well, I can certainly keep it at bay. Watch this." The great wizard recited some sort of nonsense incantation and smoke suddenly enveloped his body. Then, out of the smoke, he grew to several times his original size, easily rivaling the size of the MondoZord.

"Morphenomenal!" exclaimed Wes.

"Alright, team, let's get Tommy to the bay to summon the DragonZord!" said Kimberly.

"YEAH!" With that, the team carried Tommy to the bay while Kaffacus went to challenge the MondoZord.

"Halt, General Venjix!" exclaimed Kaffacus. The MondoZord turned to face him.

"On whose authority, _Gramps?!_" replied the foul General from within.

"On that of Kaffacus, creator of the Morphing Grid, and hence on that of all that is good in this world!"

"The Machine Empire cares nothing for all that is good in this world!"

"Well then." Kaffacus drew his sword. "Diplomacy fails once again. YAAAAAAH!" he charged at the MondoZord and their humongous blades met.

Meanwhile, the rangers had finally reached Angel Grove bay.

"Come on, Tommy!" said Kimberly, encouragingly, "I know you can do it!" Tommy struggled to lift the dagger his lips. "We all need to help him, guys! Let's lend him our power!"

"YEAH!" The rangers all touched their morphers to Tommy, giving him the strength he needed to overcome his wounds. He successfully lifted the Dragon Dagger to his lips and played the ancient melody.

_duuuuuuun don-duuuuuun du-di-duuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuun..._

The water began to stir. Something began to emerge from it. The something slowly grew larger and larger and the water grew rougher and rougher as more and more of the behemoth emerged from the water for the first time in nearly 20 years. The thing was some sort of creature; a metallic dragon. It let out its mighty roar. The DragonZord had returned. Tommy played the ancient melody again, prompting the DragonZord to walk towards the fight between Kaffacus and the MondoZord. The fight was not going well for Kaffacus. The MondoZord managed to throw him through several buildings, then disarmed him by breaking his sword against a telephone pole.

"You're FINISHED, Kaffacus!" exclaimed General Venjix. "The Machine Empire claims one victory today after all! Hahahahah! AHAHAHA-" But Venjix's laugh was suddenly interrupted by a bloodcurdling roar, and an Earth-shaking step. Venjix's black helmet nearly turned white. "I know that roar..." he said to himself. He slowly turned the MondoZord to the left to see what was approaching. "No..." he said, "It can't be..." But it was. It was the DragonZord. "No no no no no no NOOOOOOO!" The MondoZord proceeded to wrench what was left of Kaffacus's sword from his hand and charge at the Dragonzord, whose firebreath made quick work of the sword. "NOOOOOO! NOOOOOOO!" The rangers were still putting all of their energy into helping Tommy play the melody to control the mighty Zord's actions. The DragonZord's next move was to grab hold of the MondoZord's head and perform a headbutt, biting off some of the head in the process. "AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGH!" screamed the doomed General Venjix. Now, only one more blow was required to finish this once and for all.

"Come on, Tommy!" said Kimberly.

"Come on, Doctor O!"

"Just one more move! One more move and we have him!"

"Let's do it!"

"Ranger power!" Tommy summed up the remainder of his strength and the strength he gained from them into one final, powerful blow of the flute which caused the DragonZord to breathe more fire than it ever had before onto the MondoZord, melting it into rubble. The battle finally over, the Rangers removed their morphers from Tommy's, who fell back down but Kimberly caught him. All 6 rangers demorphed back into their civilian forms. Sensing that its services were no longer needed, the DragonZord wandered back into the bay.

"You did it, Tommy," she said, "you killed General Venjix."

"No," he said, limping his way back up, "_we_ did it."

"I don't get it," said Wes, "I mean, if he teleported out of Serpentera, how do we know he didn't just teleport out of the MondoZord?" Tommy smiled.

"Because he would've needed this." He reached into his belt and produced Rocky's morpher. The rangers all shared a laugh and Tommy put it back into his belt. "Well, this mission is over," said Tommy. "Thank-you, rangers, for all you've done today. As always, you've done the world proud." Tommy held out his fist. The other five rangers formed a circle around him and each put their fists in the center. They all nodded to one another with respect, said "RANGER POWER!" in unison one last time, before Kira, Cam, Wes, and Eric all went their separate ways, leaving only Tommy and Kimberly.

"We should put it to rest, Kim," said Tommy, "properly. It's what Rocky would have wanted." Kimberly nodded.

"He was a good ranger." And so the two used their own morphers to teleport to the site of the old Command Center, dug a hole in the sand, and buried Rocky's morpher. That night, they sat together with the shrine to their fallen comrade, side by side, all night long.


End file.
